Paradise Hills Trick or Treat: Paradise Hills, Montana Sweet Romance #2: Paradise Hills, Montana, #2

By Merri Maywether

They Think They've Been Tricked.

 

Chase and Taryn have been chatting on the Paradise Hills Meet and Greet dating site for months.

 

When Taryn shows up looking nothing like Chase expected, he thinks he's been tricked. 

 

Chase is Paradise Hills's most eligible bachelor. After spending three minutes with him, Taryn knows why he's single. 

 

They meet again when both volunteer for a committee to raise money for the Children's hospital. If they can get along, they're in for a real treat. 

 

Paradise Hills Trick or Treat is a stand-alone novel in the Paradise Hills Series, where all the stories will satisfy your taste for a sweet holiday romance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Merri Maywether
• Release date: Sep 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393216513

Merri Maywether

Twenty years ago, Merri Maywether went on a date with a very sweet man from Montana. Three weeks later they were engaged and they have lived happily ever after. This is Merri taking over the biography section...When I write my romance novels, the characters are the people that I see on a day to day basis. Up here in what I like to call the far, far north, people work hard, live fiercely, and love knowing that they have a community of people behind them. We support each other through the hardships and celebrate the victories. The best part...similar to the characters in my stories, at the end of a long day or a rough week we have stories to share for the years to come.

Book preview

1

This could be the start of something wonderful or the mistake Taryn would share with her friends over wine. On the other side of the oak wooden doors, her date, Chase Wyngard, was waiting for her. It was in a group setting to eliminate the pressure, but she still had first-date jitters.

Taryn Lane stood in front of the Tap House. It was an old railroad station that had been refashioned into a restaurant-style bar that catered to families and beer enthusiasts.

A group date organized by the Paradise Meet and Greet dating site also allowed her to see the often-mentioned brewhouse for herself. Taryn meant to check out the place. The group date presented the first opportunity.

Anxiousness at what was on the other side of the doors, mixed with anticipation, had her mind in a jumble.

Her eyes traveled from the polished hardwood floors to the red brick interior walls that matched the exterior of the building. Taryn could tell someone had taken great measures to preserve the structure. Distressed wooden tables varied in size to accommodate patron’s needs. Knowing what she was looking for, Taryn searched the longest table in the room. Chase told her he’d be sitting on the edge with an empty seat beside him, specifically for her.

Almost immediately, Taryn recognized the sleeve tattoo depicting a mountain landscape. Next, she matched Chase’s face with the image on his profile. Despite the cool October weather, Chase wore a short sleeve, V-neck t-shirt. He was cuter in person. That in itself made Taryn feel better. She had shared an older picture of herself and worried about him being upset about the difference between what she shared and what she really looked like. Now that they met in person, they’d have a chance to joke about bad pictures.

To buy herself time, Taryn approached the bar to order her beer first. A line of twenty taps separated her from the brewmaster. A man who looked to be in his mid-thirties wore a train conductor-style cap with Tap House embroidered across the front.

He paused, took a second look at Taryn, and quickly recovered with a smooth grin. What can I get for you?

Taryn read through the list on the wall behind him. I’ll have an Octoberfest. She’d sampled the dry, spicy brew when she visited her grandmother’s hometown in Germany several years ago. The beer would be a way to possibly connect her past with her future. It had to be a sign that the date would be fun.

Let me know what you think. The brewmaster slid the beer over the counter and waited for a response.

I’m sure I’ll like it. Taryn smiled with her eyes. I’ve heard good things about what you serve.

He grinned at her compliment, and she turned to meet Chase. Chase didn’t notice her until she was beside him. To make sure the space beside him was saved for her, Taryn asked, Is this seat taken?

With a straight face, Chase replied, You and I would make beautiful babies.

Taryn almost dropped her beer. She couldn’t have heard him correctly.

The man’s chiseled jaw and close-shaved, dark blond beard emphasized his condescending smirk.

Yes, he said what she thought he said. Jolts of righteous indignation shot flashes of flaming white light behind Taryn’s right eye.

For weeks, Chase urged her to join the group date. In their online chats, he was funny and provocative. He moderated the Meet and Greet site like a father protecting his teenage daughter. Hints at crude comments earned warnings of being banned. His firm responses earned her respect. His no-nonsense approach to topics often launched interesting conversations about dating, friendship, and family life. Occasionally, he posted articles on group date etiquette. With every encounter, Taryn searched for what he was hiding. Nobody could be that perfect and still be single.

In their first conversation, he validated her concerns. Nothing the man in front of her said matched her online crush. Even though he was sitting, he looked tall. His smirk and the shirt and the tattoo added had the elements of a bad boy that was proud of where he came from. It almost made him irresistible. The glimmer in the back of his eyes taunted her. His comment said it too. She was beneath him.

This was not Taryn’s first rodeo. In her modeling days, she dodged the wandering hands of photographers, set designers, even a couple of male models during a photoshoot. They’d whispered, Just relax and enjoy the party. It’ll show the camera we have chemistry. She’d subtly use her knee to create chemistry. It wasn’t the chemistry they’d expected, but she’d made her point.

Taryn never imagined her funny, sweet, mind-your-manners on this forum, Chase, would say something so rude. The contradiction log jammed her mind. She pursed her lips and fought through the anger.

Something broke loose.

She curled the corner of her mouth ever so slightly and leaned closer to Chase. The challenge in his eyes softened to amusement. With it came the answer to her earlier question.

The most eligible bachelor of Paradise Hills was single because he was a jerk.

Taryn tipped her mug.

Amusement gave way to disbelief. Chase’s jaw dropped when the beer dribbled down the front of his shirt. Taryn tilted the mug further to quicken the flow. It was a slow pour, and she relished every moment. With the last drops of amber liquid landing on his khaki pants, she blew him a kiss.

Chase jumped out of his chair and threw his arms in the air. What the hey! He may have said something a little more colorful, but that was the version Taryn would tell her girlfriends.

She pivoted away from him and sashayed to the counter. The mug released a colorful thud when she set it in front of the brewmaster. That was refreshing. Thank you. With a nod, Taryn bid the brewmaster adieu. She ignored the commotion behind her and made a beeline to her car.

The cool night air rushed into Taryn as she exited the Paradise Hills Tap House, and the gravity of what she had done hit her. Chase was the moderator of the dating site. She had poured a beer on the lap of the man with access to all her private information.

Taryn only had one picture on her profile. It was a picture her cousin Gibson took on a hiking trip before a series of unforeseen circumstances altered her life. She hid behind a pair of Oakley sunglasses and a Montana Bobcats baseball cap. Strands of her hair carried by the wind gave her a messy, carefree look. It hid her down to her waist-length wavy, brown hair. Unless Chase looked closely, he wouldn’t have noticed her pale biracial skin tone. The sunglasses hid her blue-gray eyes. She posted the innocuous picture to avoid attention like what she had received inside the Tap House.

By the time Taryn reached her car at the edge of the parking lot, the full force of what had happened hit her. She had just poured beer on the lap of Paradise Hills’ most eligible bachelor. Not that he mattered to her. But that might be grounds for social ostracizing. This time her mind replayed the scene. She couldn’t recall if anyone had filmed it on their cell phone. The only face that came to her mind was the different variations of Chase.

Disappointment deepened her indignation. Taryn really liked Chase. Not that she saw him with rainbows, unicorns, and wedding bells, but she thought he’d be fun to hang out with. She sat in the driver’s seat and sighed. Oh well, he deserved it.

With the turn of the ignition, the story reached its full circle. She deserved a little of it too. Taryn had broken her own rule. Don’t go out alone. Men had been a problem for all her life. For some reason, they thought because she looked, in their words, exotic, they had the right to treat her like a creature put on display for their delight. They’d caress her arm, touch her hair, or, as Chase had done, said things they would never say in front of their mothers or sisters.

Her cousins told her Paradise Hills would be different. It’s a small town where everyone knows everyone, Liam explained. Once they know you’re our family, it will be alright.

People won’t bother you when they know you have four cousins behind you.

It will be the opposite, Gibson added. Once they know you’re a Lane, you won’t be able to get a date. At least that’s how it’s been for me.

They were wrong. All of them. She ventured out alone because they all had gone on a fly-fishing trip at the Ranch Creek Resort. From now on, she was not going out without one of them as reinforcement. She shifted her car into reverse and left the parking lot.

Why are people clapping? Chase Wyngard turned red. The small group around him applauded when that crazy, beautiful woman dumped her beer on him.

Granted, he deserved it, but they didn’t have to be one-sided. It was the first thing that popped into his mind and came out of his mouth before he had time to take it back.

If Chase hadn’t known better, he would have sworn a ghost whispered in his ear, and like a child that didn’t know better, he’d mimicked what he heard.

The server approached him with a handful of towels, set them on the table, and walked away. Chase took one to wipe off the beer that soaked into his pants and dropped the rest on the floor to soak up the spill. Satisfied that he couldn’t be held accountable for a safety hazard, he left the Tap House, which bummed him for more reasons than he cared to admit. He was there to meet Taryn.

The long-haired siren with lips that begged to be kissed ran interference. He wanted her to get lost before Taryn arrived. If the woman he was waiting for saw him with the woman who looked like she jumped out of a page of a magazine, the date would be over before it started. Taryn would write him off as one of those guys distracted by the superficial.

He’d followed Taryn on the Paradise Hills Meet and Greet site for weeks. Taryn was active in the forum and participated in group chats, but she hadn’t attended any organized events.

Chase had visited her page so many times his computer prompted him to make it his default home screen. Most of the pictures on her profile were bucket list images. She wanted to go rafting down the Yellowstone River and hike the Rocky Mountains.

Only one photo on her page was available to help him find her. It was a picture of her on a hiking trip. Her hair was pulled into a cap, and she wore sunglasses. The way she smiled at whoever was on the other side of the camera had him wanting. Chase wanted someone to smile at him like that.

In the comfort of his five-bedroom home that needed a wife to help him fill it, Chase ripped off his clothes, showered, and went straight to his computer. As the admin of the Paradise Hills Meet and Greet site, Chase could monitor people’s comments. He wanted to see what they said about his early departure from the Tap House. Ten people were logged on to the site but were in the middle of a live watch of Aquaman on Netflix. Then he saw the silver lining around the cloud that hovered over his evening. Taryn was in the chat.

She typed #lovethetattoos

Another woman typed: You can have the tattoos. I’ll take the rest of him.

A chain of LOLs followed it.

The interaction set Chase’s mind at ease. Taryn liked tattoos. He’d have to think of a way to bring it up in a conversation when they finally met. And, if anyone mentioned the beer pour, which they would, he’d have time to post a funny comeback. The night wasn’t a total failure. Taryn never showed. So, she hadn’t witnessed the encounter with that vixen. He still had a chance to make a good first impression.

2

It was Taryn’s first autumn in Paradise Hills, Montana. What she had seen impressed her. The setting October sun painted the horizon line a striking gold. From there, orange fingers stretched to reach across the sky. Points from the tops of pine trees anchored the colors to connect with the multicolored elm and oak trees around her aunt and uncle’s backyard.

She marveled at the moment. If someone would have told her, as far back as six months ago, she’d be sitting around a fire pit, in her uncle’s backyard, in Montana, and loving it, Taryn would have called them straight-up crazy. She was a California beach girl. Her first steps were taken while digging her toes into the shoreline. Any time of the year was perfect for playing volleyball, chasing waves, and watching the sun melt into the ocean. Taryn loved her life.

All that changed when her cousins moved to Montana. One by one, her cousins transplanted their lives to Paradise Hills. Each departure took another piece of her heart.

Taryn and Liam, the youngest of her cousins, lost their first teeth, graduated to riding bicycles, and went off to college together. Liam was Taryn’s twin brother, birthed by his aunt.

The three older cousins, Gibson, Hunter, and Mark, were the older brothers she’d always wanted, but her mother couldn’t give. When her cousins migrated to Paradise Hills, it was only a matter of time before Taryn followed the path her cousins paved.

Taryn had only worked as a physical therapist at the Paradise Hills hospital for six months. Still, something about the place made it feel like a home away from home. The small staff worked together all the time. In stressful times, they learned the nuances of each other’s personalities.

Dr. Erin Thorne had a calming effect. Taryn’s uncle Marley, or Dr. Lane, approached situations with a serious tone. It was the opposite of how he presented himself to the family. Dr. Grey reminded people of the patient’s medical history to associate a personality with the pain. Taryn helped the patients through the recovery process. From the minute they walked in the